Brother, can you spare a deal?

The strength of British trade unions has been progressively reduced by the nine acts that have been passed since 1979, but the emergence of a 'flexible' labour market in which the middle classes have as much to lose as the working classes has given a new relevance to the trade union movement. Public hostility to trade unionism has also diminished with the ending of an era of wild-cat strikes. Trade unions must now grab the opportunity to help refashion society by becoming effective partners in the management of a capitalist system.